Rock-removing road drag



Sept. 30 1924. 1,509,958

v. R. KUHNES ROCK REMOVING ROAD DRAG Filed Nov. 21. 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet l 20 gnveufo'r 1 2 Sept 30 9 v R. KUHNES ROCK REMOVING ROAD DRAG,

Filed Nov. 21, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 iii Patented Sept. 30, 1924.

1,509,958 PATENT OFFICE.

VALMAH R. KUHN'ES, 0F RINGLING, MONTANA.

ROCK-REMOVING ROAD DRAG.

Application filed November 21, 1923. Serial No. 676,121.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VALMAH R. Kor -Inns, citizen of the United States, residing at Ringling, in the county of Meagher and State of Montana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rock- Removing Road Drags, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvementsin road drags, and has a particular reference to a device of the above kind, by means of which the surface of a road maybe efficiently levelled and the rocks automatically removed and deposited to one side of the road upon forward movement of the drag.

vAn object of the invention is to provide scraping blades,-so arranged as to dig the surface dirt loose and to also dig the rocks and convey the same to a sifting and scraping blade which allows the dirt to pass to the rearmost scraping blade and at the same time conveys the rocks off to one side of the road, the rearmost blade being so arranged as to again convey the dirt to the center of the road when necessary, but being operable to allow the dirt to distribute evenly over the road when the center of the same is sufficiently high.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of the above kind, which embraces the desired qualities of simplicity and durability of construction, as well as efficiency in operation.

Other objects will become apparent as the nature of the invention is better understood, and the same consists in the novel form, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, shown in the accompanying drawings, and claimed.

In the drawings, wherein like reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views- Figure 1 is a top plan view of a road drag constructed in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 2 is a side elevational view thereof looking toward the left of Figure 1. I

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially upon the line 3-3 of Figure 1, and

Figure 4c is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view, showing the connection of one of the hand levers with the rear scraping blade for illustrating the manner of swinging the latter.

Referring more in detail to the drawings, the present invention preferably embodies a plurality of longitudinally parallel and uniformly straight space bars 5 which are preferably constructed of angle iron as shown, and which have their forward ends hingedly attached as at 6 to the upper edge of an obliquely arranged front scraping blade 7 which may be of any well known form or construction. In order to maintain the blades 7 in a vertical position, braces 8 are attached to the bars 5 and extend forwardly to a point adjacent the lower edge of the blade 7 where they are rigidly attached to the latter as at 9.

Parallel with the forward blade 7 is a rear obliquely positioned levelling blade 10 and the latter is pivotally mounted by means of hinges 11 for rearward swinging movement at the rear end of the bars 5 for a purpose which will presently become apparent.

An intermediate blade 12 is provided in an oblique position between the digging and scraping blades 7 and the levelling blades 10 and this blade 12 is arranged to extend from the rear end of the blade to the forward end of the blade 10, as clearly shown in Figure 1. The blade 12 is composed of a sheet metal forward section 12 that extends laterally of the rear end of the blade 7 and curves forwardly as shown at 14, the curved end 1 1 being rigidly connected with the adjacent end of the blade 7 by meansof brace members 15, and a rear section composed of a plurality of superimposed horizontal spaced sifting bars 16 that extend from the rear end of the plat-e 13 to a point beyond the forward end of the blade 10. These sifting bars 16 are maintained in proper spaced relation by means of a spacing bar 17 rigidly engaged with the rods or bars 16 intermediate their ends as shown clearly in Figure 3, and said rods being held against rearward strains due to the pressure of the dirt and rocks thereon by means of an oblique brace 18 that is connected to the spacing member 17 and rigidly attached to the bar 5 at the central portion of the drag andat a point rearwardly of the blade 12. The bars 16 are so spaced as to permit the free passage of dirt therebetween, while preventing the passage of rocks between the same, and due to the oblique position of the blades 12 for causing the rocks to travel beyond the rear ends of the rods 16 at one side of the road.

In order to yieldingly maintain the blade 12 in contact with the surface of the road, the blade 12 is provided with aplurality of rigid upwardly extending bolts 19 that. project from. the upper edge of said blade 12 and which pass through an angle bar 20 which is rigidly attached to the frame bars 5, suitable compression springs 21 being interposed between the blade 12 and the under surface of the angle bar 20 as clearly shown in Figures 2 and 3.

Carried by the longitudinal frame bars 5 are rack segments 22 adapted to be engaged by the center 23 of hand levers 2 1, and said levers 24 are operatively connected with the rear blade 10 by means of links 25. By means of this construction, the levelling blade 10 may be moved to a vertical position and maintained in thisrelation when it is desired to receive the dirt from the and be deposited blade 12 and convey the same toward the center of the road. On the other hand, by swinging the hand levers 24 forwardly, the blade 10 may be set at a rearward inclination for permitting the dirt to pass thereunder in case the center of the road is sufficiently high, it being apparent that when the blade 10 is arranged at a rearward inclination, the lower edge thereof will be at a slight distance above the surface of the road so as to evenly distribute the dirt thereon.

A suitable hitch 26 is attached to the blade 7 whereby a tractor or horse may be conne'cted with the drag for causing its travel over the road, and in operation the blade 7 will effectively loosen the surface dirt and the rocks embedded therein. Upon the continned forward movement of the drag, this loosened earth and the rocks are caused to naturally work toward the rearmost end of the blade 7 after which the dirt and rocks willpass to the forwardly curved end 14 of the blade 12. The dirt and rocks will then be caused to travel along the plates 13 of the blades 12 until they encounter the rods 16, whereupon the dirt will readily pass between the latter, while the rocks will be carried beyond the free ends'of said rod 16 to be deposited at one side of the road, it being apparent from Figure 1, that the rods 16 extend beyond the forward end of the blade 10; The dirt which passes between the rods 16 will be engaged by the blade 10 and evenly distributed along the road when the blade 10 is arranged at a rearward inclination, sutlicient dirt to be allowed to remain at low point as to insure a nearly perfect levelling of the surface. In case it is desired to convey a greater part of the dirt toward the center of the road, so as to make the latter higher, this may be accomplished by swinging the blade 10 to a vertical position whereby passage of only a small amount of the dirt is allowed to occur beneath the lower edge of the blade 10.

It is believed that the construction and operation, as well as the advantages of the present invention will be readily understood and appreciated by those slrilled in the art from the foregoing description.

Minor changes may be made without dcparting from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

hat I claim as new is:

1. A road levelling and rock removing drag comprising a forward digging and scraping blade, a rear levelling blade, said forward. and rear blades being arranged in parallel spaced relation obliquely to the line of travel of the drag, an intermediate blade extending at its forward end beyond the rear end of the forward blade, and at its rear end beyond the forward end of the levelling blade, said intermediate blade being obliquely disposed in an opposite direction to the direction in which the forward and rear blades extend and emlxidyingarear sifting section through which dirt may pass and by means of which rocks are caused to be conveyed to one side of the road.

2. A road levelling and rock removing drag comprising a forward dig ing and scraping blade, a rear levelling bliide, said forward and rear blades being arranged in parallel spaced relation obliquely to the line of travel of the drag, an intermediate blade extending at its forward end beyond the rear end of the forward blade, and at its rear end beyond the forward end of the levelling blade, said intermediate blade being obliquely disposed in an opposite direction to the direction in which the forward and rear blades extend and embodying a rear sifting section through which dirt may pass and by means of which rocks are caused to be conveyed to one side of the road, said sifting section of the intermediate blade comprising a plurality of horizontal Jarallel spaced rods, and said intermediate blade embodying a forward sheet metal section, the projecting forward end of which is forwardly curved to receive the dirt from the rear end of the forward blade.

3. A road levelling and rock removing drag comprising a forward di ging and scraping blade, a. rear levelling blade, said forward and rear blades being arranged in parallel spaced relation obliquely to the line of travel of the drag, an intermediate blade extending at its forward end beyond the rear end of the forward blade, and at its rear end beyond the forward end of the levelling blade, said intermediate blade being obliquely disposed in an opposite direc tion to the direction in which the forward and rear blades extend and embodying a rear sifting section through which dirt may pass and by means of which rocks are caused to be conveyed to one side of the road, said rear levelling blade being pivotally mounted for rearward swinging movement from a normal vertical position, and means to swing said rear levelling blade and for maintaining the same vertical or at a rearward inclination at will.

4. A road levelling and rock removing drag comprising a forward digging and scraping blade, a rear levelling blade, said forward and rear blades being arranged in parallel spaced relation obliquely to the line of travel of the drag, an intermediate blade extending at its forward end beyond the rear end of the forward blade and at its rear end beyond the forward end of the levelling blade, said intermediate blade being obliquely disposed in an opposite direction to the direction in which the forward and rear blades extend and embodying a rear sifting section through which dirt may pass and by means of which, rocks are caused to be conveyed to one side of the road, said sifting section of the intermediate blade comprising a plurality of horizontal parallel spaced rods, and said intermediate blade embodying a forward sheet metal sect-ion, the projecting forward end of which is forwardly curved to receive the dirt from the rear end of the forward blade, said intermediate blade being yieldably urged into contact with the ground, and means for maintaining said rear levelling blade in a vertical position or at a rearward inclination at will.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

VALMAH R. KUHNES. 

